


These Marks Inside My Heart Call To Hope In the Dark

by TigressJade



Series: Spangled Stars and Altered Stripes AU's [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Military, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Bucky Barnes, BAMF Steve Rogers, Captain Steve Rogers - Freeform, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, Military, Military Background, Military Backstory, Military Helicopter, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, The Author Regrets Nothing, sergeant bucky barnes - Freeform, soul marks, stucky au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 05:53:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15624006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigressJade/pseuds/TigressJade
Summary: Captain Steve Rogers and Sergeant James Bucky Barnes both have soulmarks with phrases that show hope to one and tragedy to another. It makes both more determined to help others and give them a chance at survival before their own inevitably fateful meeting brings them together at last.





	These Marks Inside My Heart Call To Hope In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This is a soulmate au I came up with where Steve thinks the worst of a future situation and Bucky thinks the best, based on the interpretation of each of their soulmark phrases.
> 
> I experimented a bit with the writing, so I hope, overall, that its an enjoyable read.

Captain Steve Rogers had known since he was sixteen that his soulmate was going to die. Ever since the words “ _I’m not gonna make it, am I?_ ” had imprinted themselves an inch and a half above his heart.

His mother, Sarah Rogers, was sympathetic and tried to console him with the possibility that the context of the words could be misinterpreted. Steve had wanted to let himself believe that for a few months, that his soulmate was referring to something to something inane like making an extreme sports jump, scoring game points or firing a practice shot with a gun or a bow, but in his heart he knew that the words meant something more vital.

Steve eventually gave up trying to decipher when and where it was going to happen, and set about working toward something more meaningful that would keep him going before and after his inevitable last meeting with his soulmate.

 

Sergeant James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes of the 107th army division always knew he was going to live, because the words inscribed right below his heart read “ _You’ll make it, soldier, if I have anything to say about it!_ ”. There would always be someone who was going to see him through whatever life was going to throw at him. That’s why he volunteered to join the armed forces after high school and the ROTC two years before that.

Bucky wanted to use his time and good luck to help other people and fight for his country.

 

Steve Rogers was used to seeing soldiers in the medivac helicopter coming to them on stretchers looking as if they were breathing their last. Some even made it through the night and then then the long months after. While others faded into the sunset as the last drops of blood dried on wraps they’d cleared of before being sent home for a proper final rest.

 

Sergeant James “Bucky” Barnes was good soldier, a little rough around the edges with good aim and a personal charm that kept his men in high spirts and the higher ups from grousing too much in his direction.

Bucky’s crew held everything steady at their border crossing unless there a disturbance in one of the local villages.

That night he stepped up to a car and fired a single shot, making sure the imminent explosion was too far away from the locals and the border to do any real damage. The problem was he couldn’t see as well at that range in the darkness despite his top-notch ground equipment. He’d had to get closer.

Close enough that some of the backlash had caught him in its tide.

 

Captain Steve Rogers team was called that night to medivac Bucky to the nearest hospital and it was then that Steve heard the words he’d been hearing for most of his time there. Another soldier was telling him that he didn’t think he’d make it. Only, he knew he’d eventually meet the one person he was destined to lost and was determined that he damned well wouldn’t lose anyone else then.

Not a single soldier if he could help it.

He couldn’t always help it.

And this time, this time he gritted his teeth with the same determination that this would be another person to make it through the long night of recovery.

He’d answered Bucky’s “ _I’m not gonna make it, am I?_ ” with “ _You’ll make it, soldier, if I have anything to say about it!_ ”.

It was then that Bucky told him.

“Captain, I’ve been waiting all my life to hear those words. So pal, I know that when you say it, it must be true.”

Steve choked for a minute, taking in a shaky breath before resuming his careful treatment of Bucky and giving orders for his immediate transport to the nearest facility.

“As you were, soldier” was his reply before the helicopter was cleared by the ground crew and they were once more in the air.

 

Steve waited outside Sergeant Barnes’ hospital room anytime he was of duty during the next couple of days. He was relieved that his soulmate had made it through the long night. Though it felt like he was still holding his breath as the tightness in his heart intensified every day that Sergeant Barnes still wasn’t awake post-surgery.

 

Five days later Steve’s smile was irrepressible through his tears as Sergeant Barnes, no Bucky, was staring back at him with a soulmark gleaming the light for all to see. He knew now what his own meant and that he’d managed to save his most important person after all.

“I’m with you pal and don’t you forget it” Bucky stated with a wink.

“So’m I Sergeant…Bucky. You made it” Steve replied returning his grin. “So, there’s no getting rid of me now. You’re stuck me til the end of both our lines.”

“Think I can live with that, Cap. I’ve got a lot of living left to do.”


End file.
